Love Comes In Many Ways
by Kalana Fox
Summary: Everyone can love, but not everyone is blessed with it. In Shadow's case he was once loved as a brother to his only human friend, but never as a person. Just a weapon. But everyone gets love at some point, and his time is drawing very near. ShadOC.
1. Beginning

**Love Comes In Many Ways**

I've been planning this fanfic for sometime. It'll introduce three new characters. One of which I've been meaning to put into my fanfics for a long, long time. I hope you all like it, I worked hard on planning it.

**WARNING TO ANYONE THIS APPLIES TO!**

This fic contains some ShadowOC pairings. If you don't like that kind of pairing then leave now. If you do, then read on, dear readers.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic or any other related characters. I do, however, own Shatami, Riff and Raphael (known in this fic as Raph more than Raphael).

* * *

The metal doors of the base slid open with a hiss. Three figures shrouded in dark cloaks walked silently through the metal hallway, passing a robot or two along the way. The figures walked through another set of sliding metal doors to find themselves in a big throne-like room. On the far side of the room sat Eggman in his big, metallic chair. Sitting on one of the arm rests of the chair was Sly. Both watched as the figures stepped into the room and stopped a few steps before Eggman.

"Identify yourselves." Eggman said in a commanding way.

The figure standing somewhat forward from the other two cast back her hood revealing a magenta hedgehog with long, purple dipped quills. Her forehead was adorned with six small bangs that hung over her eyes a little—all six purple dipped as well. Her eyes were a light brown.

"I am Shatami." She said blankly.

Once she revealed herself the other two figures cast back their hoods as well. The first one, a rat with black tipped ears, gray fur, three long, black tipped bangs hanging from his forehead over his eyes and yellow eyes, stepped forward a step and said,

"My name is Riff."

Following him the second one, a bafox (bat/fox crossbreed) with golden yellow fur on his head, six spiked bangs, three of which stuck out every which way and the other three hanging down over his eyes, rested on his forehead. His ears were brown and golden yellow dipped. His eyes were aqua.

"I am Raphael, though I like to be called Raph." He said impassively.

All three wore black masks over the part of their faces which held their eyes.

Eggman and Sly studied them with a curious eye.

"You three are the Thieves of Avager?" He asked once again casting his eyes over all of them.

They said nothing but nodded their response. Eggman nodded as well in response to this knowledge and looked down from where he sat to Shatami.

"Are you the leader?" Eggman asked watching her for a response.

"Yes, I am." She said, "Why do you need our assistance?"

Eggman smiled, he had been waiting for that question.

"I'm so very glad you asked that, my dear," He said getting up from his chair, Sly hopping onto his shoulder, "Follow me and I will show you just what it is I need you to do."

As he said this he walked over to one of the many doors in the large room. The three thieves followed him closely. After Eggman punched in a code the door slid open with a hiss and he walked through it, followed by Shatami, Riff, and Raph.

Meanwhile in Station Square

"Sonic look out!" Amy shouted over to Sonic who was lying in a beach chair, completely oblivious to the volley ball that was heading right for him.

The blue hedgehog raised his sunglasses to see what Amy was shouting about but it was too late, the volley ball hit him square in the face, knocking him over into the Emerald Beach sand.

Shadow, who was sitting on a concrete wall near the back of the beach where the stairs that led up to the city sidewalk met with the sands of the beach, chuckled lightly at seeing Sonic's face imbedded into the sand.

"You know Sonic," he laughed, "Your face looks good when it's buried in sand."

Sonic raised his head up, shaking his head wildly to get the sand out of his quills and wiping his face off. He glared over at Shadow.

"Would you like to see it from my point of view?" He said a little threateningly.

Before they could start a scuffle Rouge, who was dressed in a purple bikini walked in between them, holding her hands out to face them both.

"Now, now you two don't go starting a fight. We don't need anyone sent to the hospital." She said rather motherly.

Sonic and Shadow knew better than to get on her bad side so mumbling they said,

"Sorry Rouge…" and turned away from each other.

Sonic returned to his original position in his beach chair and inspected his sunglasses for damage. Amy came running over, volley ball in hand panting and with a semi-look of panic on her face. She was dressed in a one piece volley ball outfit which doubled as a swim suite.

"Sonic, are you ok!" She asked frantically, examining his face closely for any signs of injury.

He lightly pushed her away somewhat and smiled his trademark smile.

"I'm fine Amy, thanks. Really I'm ok." He said when he saw her 'I-don't-believe-you' look on her face.

Shadow watched from his post.

They were all there, not for any special reason just to have fun. It had been Sonic's idea for everyone to get together at the beach to hang out and catch up. Of course, Shadow had been dragged here by Sonic whether he wanted to come or not. Even though he was surrounded by his friends he still felt as if he was……out of place. He and Sonic had made amends for what had happened in the recent years after the ARK incident. Shadow just couldn't place his finger on it. He didn't know what the emptiness in his heart was. He had fulfilled Maria's promise and he had friends now. Why would he feel so out of place among his own friends?

Sighing he looked up and looked around at his friends who were doing their various tasks. Cream had abandoned her and Amy's game of volleyball and was now making a sand castle with Tails. Knuckles and Rouge were both off to the side sun bathing and from the looks of it talking about something though he couldn't hear what. Sonic and Amy had left their previous posts and were now walking along the shoreline collecting seashells from the looks of it.

Suddenly, it hit him. He knew what it was he was missing. He remembered the feeling when Maria used to be alive. Love. The thing he was missing, the thing that made him feel so out of place among his friends was love. He frowned. Love wasn't something he was entirely knowledgeable with. What little he remembered of Maria was broken memories, the promise he made to her before she died, and a faint memory of the feeling he had once known but would never know again.

He started to hop off the wall he had been sitting on when suddenly everything around him became shrouded in smoke. Before he knew what was happening everything became black. The last thing he remembered was the feeling of being dragged away by two people. Everything else became a blur.

* * *

Cliffhangers are my best friendsgrins. I hope you all liked the first chapter; the next chapter will come soon. I hope. Depends on what I have happening. Review nicely but truthfully and I'll consider updating sooner. Hehehe.

Kalana Fox


	2. New Friends

**Love Comes In Many Ways**

It's the second chapter! Yay! I'm going to try to make it a little longer than the last one. Anyway, read on and enjoy. Sorry it took a while to get this up, decided to unfairly delete one of my old stories right as I finished this. But now I can finally freakin post again.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic or any other related characters. I do, however, own Shatami, Riff and Raphael.(known in this fic as Raph more than Raphael). And I own Sly as well.

* * *

It took a few minutes but the smoke had finally cleared. When everyone was able to see each other again they looked around to make sure everyone was ok. Upon their searching the same question rose to their thoughts: 

"Where's Shadow?"

Eggman's Secret Base

Shatami sat in a chair in her quarters. She had recently received a transmission from Riff that they got what Eggman asked for an were on their way to show her. A few minutes passed. Finally, she heard a knock outside her door.

"Come in." She called from where she sat.

The door hissed open and in walked Riff and Raph dragging an unconscious hedgehog behind them.

"We got Sonic The Hedgehog, just as Eggman asked." Raph said helping Riff lift the body onto the single bed in the room.

Shatami examined the hedgehog a minute with her eyes.

"Are you sure that's Sonic? He doesn't exactly look blue…" She said uncertainly.

Once the hedgehog had been placed on the bed Riff took a better look at their captive. His eyes widened in revelation. They HAD grabbed the wrong one.

"Eggman's going to kill us…..we got the wrong one!" he exclaimed stomping his foot on the metal floor in frustration.

He turned to Raph and pointed a finger at him.

"You shouldn't have made that smoke screen! This all your fault!" he yelled.

Raph got a hurt look on his face but said back with equal fury,

"You're the one that said we needed to get in and out without anyone seeing us! Therefore it's YOUR fault!"

Shatami stood up at that moment quickly and the two fussing animals stopped their bickering immediately and put all attention on her.

"It's nobody's fault. Mistakes happen, we'll just have to try again and get it right next time." She said calmly, her irate expression softening.

"But Shatami, this is Eggman we're working with. He doesn't like failure, you know that." Riff said matter of faculty.

"True," said Shatami walking over to where the hedgehog lay asleep, "but I'm sure the good doctor will let it off this one time."

She turned so she was facing her two team mates.

"So, which of you blind-as-a-bat ninja thieves going to go tell Eggman about this?"

At that moment the room door slid open and in walked Eggman, Sly again on his shoulder.

"Tell me what?" He asked but then he saw Shadow still fast asleep on the bed.

Raph stepped forward a little hesitantly.

"We…um…kind of got…the wrong one." He said quietly and shyly but just loud enough for Sly to hear and whisper it to Eggman.

"As much as I don't like failure, getting this one was even better than getting that miserable blue rodent." He said looking over at Shadow.

Nodding as if thinking to himself he turned his attention back to the three ninja thieves.

"Since you got this particular hedgehog it's just as well. Instead of getting Sonic and bringing him here we'll simply LURE him here. Riff, Raph, come with me to discuss this new plan. Shatami," he said making Shatami snap her head up in attention to listen, "Keep an eye on him till he wakes up. Understood?"

Shatami nodded adding on, "Yes sir."

Eggman nodded in response and turned on his heel and left the room, Riff and Raph following.

Now alone again except for the unconscious hedgehog on the bed Shatami looked over at the said hedgehog. She didn't want to admit it but he was very beautiful. Black and red, two colors she admired. The white tuft of fur on his chest made him even more beautiful…

Shatami quickly shook her head as if to get those thoughts out of her head. Never again would she allow her heart to make a fool out of her.

She was snapped from her thoughts by a groan.

Turning in her chair she saw the other hedgehog starting to awaken. Slowly his eyes began to open, revealing a set of beautiful scarlet orbs. He looked around till he saw her.

"Who are you? Where am I? Why am I here? Am I dead?" he asked almost all at once.

"One question at a time!" Shatami exclaimed, "But for your first question my name is Shatami. What's your name?"

"Shadow." He said, "Shadow the Hedgehog. Nice to meet you, Shatami. Where am I?"

Shatami nodded now knowing his name and responded,

"Nice to meet you too. You're um…currently being held captive by my two team mates, Eggman, and I."

She wasn't sure whether or not she was supposed to tell him that or not. She really didn't care at the moment.

Shadow chuckled.

"So, the good doctor is at it again, hm? What's his plan this time? Use me as bait?"

Shatami nodded and Shadow laughed a little more but quickly threw a gloved hand to his temple.

"Argh, my head hurts……" he said massaging his forehead with his fingers to try to soothe the ache.

"Smokescreen does that to you. My teammate's fault." Shatami said examining the hedgehog up and down.

Normally when she was with captives she wouldn't waste her breath talking to them. What was so special about this one that made her just want to sit there and talk till Eggman or someone else came? It was all confusing to her. But nevertheless she wasn't going to allow herself to fall victim to tricks. She was far too talented in her art to sink so low.

Shadow noticed she looked as if she was fighting something and asked,

"Are you ok?"

Shatami quickly covered up her feelings and looked away scoffing slightly.

"I'm fine." She responded a little colder than she had intended.

Shadow left it alone and a long, slightly awkward silence fell between the two hedgehogs.

"Why are you working for Eggman?" Shadow asked breaking the silence.

"Why do you want to know?" was Shatami's response as she turned her head back to face him.

He shrugged.

"I was just curious."

Shatami was silent for a few minutes. Wondering whether she should tell him the truth or not.

Finally she spoke,

"Because he made us a promise we couldn't refuse."

Shadow sat up a bit, propping himself up with the headboard so that his back was resting against it. His headache was starting to go away.

"A promise?" He said, "What kind of promise?"

Shatami sighed. I might as well tell him everything, she thought.

"My friends and I come from a small village faraway called Avager. As villagers there we were raised and trained to be ninja thieves. Because our village was also poor we had to steal from others to get food for everybody. Riff, Raph, and I were the best of the thieves so it was us who were usually called to go on missions to get something. Usually it was just supplies like cloth and things." She tried to keep the tears pricking at her eyes at bay. To let someone see her cry would destroy her reputation.

Shadow noticed this and said,

"You don't have to tell me if don't—"

"No, I might as well." She interrupted.

Waiting a moment she continued,

"One day as we were coming back from a supply mission we found Avager had been burned to the ground sometime while we were gone. There was blood everywhere and all that remained of our friends and family were their ashes." Her voice started to crack a little but she went on anyway, "With nowhere else to turn to we wandered around for a few years. Eggman somehow got a hold of us and told us to come see him. That he had a proposal for us. So, we paid him a visit. He told us of his plan to capture Sonic and said that he would need our help. Of course we don't take to agreements easily so we asked what we would get out of it. He told us that in exchange for helping him capture and eradicate Sonic that he would give us a place to stay and give us enough food so that we wouldn't be forced to go hungry for a day or more till the next time we could get food."

A few tears made it past her eyes and she quickly lowered her head hoping her bangs would hide them.

But Shadow did see them. A look of sympathy crossed his face. He knew what it was like to lose everyone you ever cared about or loved. For a moment he saw Maria appear in his mind. He knew all too well what she was going through.

Leaning over a bit so he could reach he gently placed a gloved hand on her shoulder. She didn't raise her head but he knew she was crying.

"I know how you feel." He softly said.

She sniffled and wiped at her eyes with the back of her own gloved hand and looked up at him.

"You do?" She asked not believing that someone could possibly know what she was going through.

Shadow nodded, noticing for the first time just how beautiful she was.

Shatami smiled a little, her tears starting to disappear from her eyes.

"I guess I really am not alone after all…" she said looking away a little.

Shadow smiled back.

"Me too."

At that moment the door slid open and in walked Riff, stopping immediately at seeing the hostage was awake at last.

"He's finally awake!" the rat exclaimed.

Shatami nodded then asked,

"Where's Raph?"

"Kitchen." Camethe response and in reply to that she and Riff rolled their eyes.

"The good doctor has reviewed with you two the plan, I presume?" Shatami asked cocking an eyebrow slightly.

Riff nodded.

"He seemed a little odd though." He said.

Shadow looked confused.

"Isn't Eggman always odd?" he spoke up.

Riff looked at Shatami questionably and she nodded. His gaze went back to Shadow.

"Well, he was odder than usual, you could say."

"How so?" Asked Shatami.

"Halfway through talking about the new plan he seemed……..almost anxious. But it wasn't an anxious like when he's close to taking over the world. It's like he wanted to go be doing something else. I don't know why though, a new plan is supposed to make you want to go over it a lot." He said in response.

Shadow closed his eyes in thought. What could he be up to, he thought to himself.

Meanwhile Somewhere Else In The Base

Eggman was setting about connecting wires on a mysteries machine, Sly by his side handing him parts he asked for. Done connecting wires he walked over to a dark part of the room where a pair of red, lifeless eyes were staring intently at him.

"It is ready, my master." He said bowing deeply before the pair of eyes.

"Good." Said a deep, robotic voice that seemed to come from the dark part of the room, "Soon, my pet, once we have all seven Chaos Emeralds we will be unstoppable! No one will be able to defeat me!" exclaimed the voice.

As night fell on the Hidden Base the halls echoed with the sounds of evil laughter as three pairs of robotic eyes slowly disappeared and all went dark.

* * *

Go plot twists and cliffhangers! I know this chapter might've been a little boring story wise but believe me, there's a lot more to the story than what I revealed in here. LOTS more. Hope everyone liked this chapter, next one will be up ASAP! R & R! 

Kalana Fox


	3. Newfound Feelings

**Love Comes In Many Ways**

Sorry for the lack of writings, been really busy. Holy I can't believe how many hits this story has gottenO.o! Review folks, and updates will come quicker, I promise. Enjoy this installment.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic or any other related characters. I do, however, own Shatami, Riff and Raphael (known in this fic as Raph more than Raphael)

* * *

_**Next Day With Sonic and Co.**_

It was 2:13 PM in Station Square and Sonic and friends were over at Sonic's house, trying to figure out what happened.

"I just don't understand!" Rouge yelled slamming her fist down on the arm rest of the long couch that was in Sonic's living room.

On the couch with her were Knuckles, Amy, and Cream, Cheese resting in her lap. Sonic and Tails occupied the two recliners that sat across from the couch.

Tails nodded his head in agreement, "You're right, it's not like Eggman to use smokescreens as his way of entering."

All of them nodded.

Sonic shrugged, "Maybe the old guy got a brain in that empty head of his. Then again, when will he ever?"

"It could be Nack's work." Knuckles suggested.

Sonic shook his head, "We haven't heard from him for years, why would he resurface now?"

All of them sat silently in thought.

"Only one way to find out I guess," said Rouge. "We'll have to go pay the doctor a visit."

"But Rouge, how do we know it's not a trap?" Amy asked. They all went silent again.

"I guess all we can really do is wait until Eggman comes to us with one of his big and boring speeches that state the obvious." Tails said sighing in defeat.

They all nodded in agreement.

"I just hope Mister Shadow is alright…" Cream said.

"Chao." Was Cheese's response.

_**Deep Within Eggman's Base**_

"This is all your fault, you know that?" Said a voice.

"Oh shut up, Sly. It's your fault too." Said a second voice.

"My fault! I'm not the one who rebuilt him, Eggman. As far as I recall your exact words were 'Oh Sly, we shall rebuild Mecha Sonic to be smarter, faster, and better than the first one! You'll see, Sly, that loathsome hedgehog will be bowing down to ME!' well, NOW where are we!" Screamed Sly, irritation evident in his voice.

They were in a dungeon deep under the base. Eggman hadn't bothered to put good lighting down there so a lot of the cells and corridors were pretty dark.

"Alright, so maybe it was my fault. But we'll get out of here sooner or later." Eggman said.

Silence fell between the two.

"Think of a plan yet?" Sly asked.

"No, have you?" Was the response.

_**Meanwhile In The Upper Part of the Base**_

Shadow had been given his own room and free roam of certain parts of the base but he was restricted to having either Riff, Raph, or Shatami as his watch guards to make sure he didn't try to escape. He was only allowed privacy when he was in his room (which had no windows so he couldn't escape from there anyway) or doing other business.

He had been there for two whole days. During those days he and Shatami often would talk to each other for long hours and sometimes would go on long walks around the base, the areas he was allowed to roam anyway. It was during those days that he felt a strange feeling starting to spawn somewhere deep in his heart. It greatly perplexed him for it was similar to what he had felt when he had been with Maria but at the same time was almost new. It only seemed to happen when he was with Shatami which in that case he almost welcomed the strange feeling.

Unbeknownst to him Shatami was feeling that same strange feeling. But unlike him, she knew all too well what the feeling was, and she was not entirely too thrilled about it.

This can't be happening again. I refuse to let it happen again. Love almost got me killed once I'm not going to let it do that to me again, she thought.

Indeed, there had been a point in her life where she had almost been killed because she had loved someone. It was only because of Riff and Raph that she could save herself from being killed. It was a time she really didn't want to remember. She had fallen for a handsome traveler and it nearly cost her life.

Although she tried and tried again to push the feelings out of her mind and out of her heart they always kept coming back. She just couldn't understand what was so special about Shadow that would not allow the feelings to leave her alone.

I was trained to be a cold, emotionless ninja thief. Why does that have to go down the drain now? Oi, just think what Master Fajaray would do to me if he saw me like this, she thought to herself.

It was night time at the Hidden Base. She was lying on her bed, staring up at the metallic ceiling. Her room wasn't all that large, about the size of a normal bedroom. All the rooms were like that. There was one small, square shaped window on the wall the head of her bed faced. Under that was the chair she had sat in when Shadow was first brought to the base. Adjacent to the window was the door that led to the corridor of rooms in the section of the base she and her friends were in. Shadow occupied the room next to hers and Riff and Raph had separate rooms adjacent to theirs.

Shatami needed someone to tell her feelings to, even though it was against her training.

I wish Blaze was here…, she thought.

As if on cue, there was a slight tapping outside her window. Curious Shatami got off the bed and walked over to the window.

The light tapping continued and she opened the window slightly. As soon as she did a cat face popped in front of her, startling the hedgehog a bit. Recognizing the face Shatami opened the window all the way and in hopped a little black and red fur ball.

"Blaze! You came! But…how did you find me?" She asked picking up the cat.

Blaze was a black cat with a red flame dipped bushy tail, red stripes along the top and sides of her head, red flames dipped the tip of her ears, two flame dipped front paws and a red belly. Her eyes were a deep crimson.

Blaze meowed and nuzzled Shatami's neck. The hedgehog smiled.

"Then again, you're always able to find me, aren't you girl?" Shatami said laughing slightly and hugging her cat.

In response Blaze meowed again.

**_In Another Area of the Base_**

Eggman and Sly were in the secret room they had been in for the past few nights, silently working on the mysterious machine. The room was rather large and every part of it was metallic.

After some moments of silence and a couple of tweaks to the machine Eggman stood up, Sly hopping onto his shoulder.

Eggman turned on his heel and walked up to the dark spot of the room, stopping a few inches in front of it.

"The Power Holder has been attached, my master. It is ready for the Power Supply." He said bowing to the dark.

The same pair of red eyes appeared again.

"Excellent," said the deep, robotic voice. "And now, all we need are the seven Chaos Emeralds. Once all seven are in my possession the Life Source Evaporation Machine will be complete. And once it's complete the first victim to test it will be…Shadow The Hedgehog!"

With that Mecha Sonic stepped out of the shadows laughing in his emotionless, robotic voice.

* * *

Darth Vader music starts playing 

Not really a cliffhanger but meh. Ooooo the plot thickens! What will happen? Who knows! Oh wait, I know…..hmm but that is for me to know and you to find out in the next chapter! MWUAHAHAHAHAHA!

Yes, I realize the ending is kinda like the last chapter's ending but I needed it to be like that to move the story along.

Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Review and the update just might come a little quicker. Bye!

Kalana Fox


	4. Theft and Loss

**Love Comes In Many Ways**

Hey ya'll, I'm back, with a new chapter. I'm gonna try to rap up this story soon, don't know how long though. I have the urge to write an SU fic but if I start on that then it'll distract me from this (plus I haven't finished Birthday Bash or The Crystal Apple). I have got to learn to control my writing urges XX. Anyway, hope ya'll enjoy this chapter.

P.S. Blaze is not the purple Sol Jewel (or whatever they were called, haven't played the game yet) protector. Blaze is Shatami's pet cat, yea, I own her too.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic or any other related characters. I do, however, own Blaze, Shatami, Riff and Raphael (known in this fic as Raph more than Raphael), and when he appears and if you haven't read any of my other stories, I own Sly too.

* * *

**Eggman's Base, 10:05 AM**

Shatami, Riff, and Raph walked through the metal doors and into the big room Eggman was in. They were there to discuss the next part of the plan they were required to do.

"Ah good, you three are finally here." Eggmanstated turning to them.

He pressed a button on a control box on one side of the room and a large, metal table lifted from somewhere in the floor into the center of the room. Eggman approached the table as did the three ninja thieves.

There were lots of things on the table, a cup of pencils and pens sat in a corner, another corner had some huge pieces of paper, and in the center of the table between Shatami and Eggman was a piece of paper with drawings on it. Riff stood to Shatami's right and Raph to her left so they could get a look at the paper too.

Eggman smoothed the paper out so they could look at it more properly, making sure the drawings and captions were facing them so they could read and see everything right.

"This is my latest invention," he said pointing to an image in the center of the paper. It looked like another one of his robots, only the drawing had some cool attachments on it. "I call it 'Nightcrawler'. It is designed to hunt down anyone that I put the DNA of into it. Once the DNA is placed inside its Sensory Unit the robot will hunt down the one person who matches that DNA."

"So what do you need us for?" Raph asked examining the drawings.

"I need you three to go to Angel Island. Bring me all seven Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald too," Eggman ordered. "They're the source of power I need to make the robot fully operational."

Riff got a worried look on his face.

"What will we do about the Echidna?" He asked knowing what Knuckles was capable of if someone tried to take the Master Emerald from him.

"Smokescreen if you have to. At least Shatami will be there to make sure you get the right thing." The evil doctor said.

At this Riff and Raph lowered their eyes a bit to look at the floor in embarrassment at their past mistake.

Shatami shook her head a bit in exasperation then asked,

"When should we strike?" She asked.

Eggman raised one of his big gloved hands to his chin and stroked it, deeply in thought. After a moment he finally responded,

"With any luck, Knuckles would have left the island to aid searching for Shadow. That or he could be asleep, if he is do your best not to wake him—you three ARE ninjas after all." He said turning away from the group.

As he turned away the table retracted back into the floor and the hole was then covered up again by the floor.

"Do you understand your mission?" He asked looking at them out of the corner of his eye.

They nodded in unison.

"Good, now go."

With that the three ninja thieves turned and walked out of the room, leaving Eggman in his solitude.

As they walked down the hall Shatami couldn't help but think something wasn't right.

How could that thing run on Chaos energy? It had no slots for the emeralds to even go in. That robot didn't seem the type that would need to be hooked up to a bigger machine, either. Something is not right here…, she thought to herself.

Determined to voice her opinion she walked up to Riff to walk beside him, Raph was trailing a little behind them.

"Hey, Riff, did you notice anything wrong with that robot design?" She asked waiting for the rat to respond.

Riff thought for a second then responded,

"Just that it won't work like all his other robot designs?" He guessed.

"No, well….besides that one. I mean about how it needs Chaos energy to operate. I didn't see any slots on the thing that suggested the emeralds would go in there, let alone the Master Emerald."

"The robot could need to be hooked up to a machine. Maybe the emeralds are supposed to go in there."

"But that's just it, that robot design didn't look like it needed to be hooked up to anything. If it needed a bigger machine to be hooked up to it'd have some kind of charge things sticking out of it for wires to go in. I'm telling you, Riff, something's not right." She insisted.

Riff shook his head.

"You're right but there's nothing we can really do about it. If we disobey Eggman we'll be back at square one. All we can do is just get him his emeralds."

Shatami sighed in defeat. Riff was right. If they disobeyed Eggman he'd kick them out and they'd be on the look for work again.

So they continued to walk, all three in complete silence until they found themselves outside the base. Since the base was surrounded by water and mountains they used a boat that Eggman had put there for them to use and traveled to the main land, where they continued their trek to Angel Island.

**With Sonic and the Gang, same day, 12:30 PM**

Shadow had been missing now for two whole weeks and the gang was getting worried. With no word from Eggman of any plans yet they decided to branch out and search on foot for Shadow. They were determined to find their dark friend.

Sonic had zipped around the city and the Mystic Ruins in search of his once-rival. Finding no sign of him he returned to the beach.

"I'm bored as all heck, Shadow can't be found anywhere, that means there's only one thing to do…" the blue hedgehog said to himself.

Finding a small patch of grass just before the sand started he laid down and placed his hands behind his head, avoiding his quills. Sighing he relaxed under the warmth of the May sun.

He laid there for a while until…

"Delivery from Dr. Eggman!" came a high pitched little voice.

Sonic opened one of his eyes half way and, to his annoyance, saw none other than Bokkun.

"Not again…" Sonic said annoyed.

"Yes again!" Chimed Bokkun as he got a small yellow TV out of his backpack and placed it on Sonic's stomach. He pressed a button on it and a picture of Eggman's face appeared on the screen. Bokkun flew away.

"Good evening, Sonic! I just thought you and your little friends would like to know that your friend Shadow is with me. He's being treated VERY nicely." At this the screen switched from that of Eggman to a screen that showed Shadow tied up trying to escape.

The screen went back to Eggman.

"You and your little friends have exactly forty-eight hours to come rescue your friend. If you don't, well…let's just say it's not going to be very pretty. This message will now self destruct in ten seconds!"

With that the screen went black and Sonic just sat there boredly. It was then that he realized the last thing the message said.

"Oh…crap…" He uttered to himself.

He moved to try to toss the TV away but he only just managed to lift it up into the air before it exploded in his face, showering soot all over him.

He coughed to get some of the soot out of his mouth and nose. Standing up he shook himself to make the rest of the soot fall off.

"Better go tell the others." He said to himself and zipped off toward the city where they all had agreed to meet later.

**Later on, with Sonic and the others, around 2:05 PM**

"That's what Egghead said." Sonic concluded.

They were at Rouge's house, Sonic had just finished telling them all that had happened and about Eggman's delivery message from Bokkun. Knuckles wasn't with them because he had to watch over the Master Emerald.

They all considered what Sonic had just told them.

"If Eggman's got Shadow we should go save him." Rouge suggested.

Her house was a big mansion, being a Government Agent had its perks she had to admit. The group was in the living room of her mansion. Tails, Cream, Cheese, and Amy were sitting on the big, comfy couch with Tails on one end and Amy on the other, Cream and Cheese between them. Rouge sat on the big comfortable chair that looked as if it were fit for a princess, maybe even a queen. Sonic got the rocking chair.

"As much as I agree with Rouge, we have to assume that it probably is a trap." Tails stated.

"But what if he wasn't lying? What if Eggman really-" Amy started but was cut off by Sonic.

"Egghead's too cowardly to actually do that. Especially since Shadow was created by his grandfather. I suggest we think of a plan and then set into action before our time to get there is up."

"How will you know where Eggman's base is?" Cream asked innocently.

"It's always in the same place." The others stated together.

"Ok, so, let's think of a plan. We only have two days to think of one." Tails stated placing his hand to his chin in thought.

The others mimicked him and started to think of a plan.

**Angel Island, same freakin' day, 2:45 PM**

Knuckles was stretched out in front of the Master Emerald. He had been gone from it too long for his comfort so he was planning to make up those duty hours. The cool breeze blew the various greenery on the vast island to and fro. Eventually the red echidna dozed off to sleep, the Master Emerald's light radiating soft and strong.

Meanwhile, in the trees on the out skirts of the jungle surrounding the altar, three pairs of eyes watched the dozing echidna and the bulky emerald that shimmered brilliantly in the sun's light next to him.

"Man, that thing is huge, how are we supposed to move it silently enough to not wake him up?" One of the figures asked.

"Simple, Riff, you two lift and carry it while I direct you." Another voice stated.

"But why Raph and I? There's no way two people can lift THAT, especially when one of those people has the strength of a girl!" Riff exclaimed, making sure to keep his voice down so as not to wake the echidna who was just a few feet away from them on the ground.

"Hey! I do not have the strength of a girl!" Raph exclaimed obviously offended.

"You'll both have the strength of kittens if you two don't shut up!" Shatami shouted in a whisper-like tone.

"Sorry…" Riff and Raph muttered under their breaths.

They were all sitting on separate branches of a tall tree, each of them gazing through the foliage of the trees that protected them from sight. Shatami was the highest up, Riff was below her, and Raph was beneath them.

Raph took a moment to look through his section of shrubbery and examined the scene before them.

"Hmmm perhaps we could use a smokescreen?" He suggested looking up from his branch at the other two.

"No, we don't want a repeat of the LAST time you suggested that." Riff scowled.

"Well, in any case we have to get it one way or another. We shouldn't make the good doctor wait too long." Shatami said looking through her section of leaves trying to think of a plan.

"In that case, I say we just go down there, grab the gem, sleep bomb the echidna if he wakes up, and get our butts out of here and back to the base." Riff suggested smacking his fist into the open palm of his other hand.

"I agree with Riff's plan." Raph added.

Shatami frowned.

"Fine, we'll go with that plan, Riff, but if it fails it's your head that will be delivered on a platter, not mine." Shatami stated coolly, hopping off the branch she was positioned on and landing silently on the lush ground underneath them.

"What about me?" Raph asked jumping off his branch and landing next to Shatami.

"I honestly don't think Eggman would want your head unless you screwed up again like last time." Riff stated jumping off his own branch and landing on the other side of Shatami.

Raph pouted at that comment but the others paid no heed to it.

"Alright, guys, time to make a swift and silent robbery. Remember, SILENT!" She harshly whispered the last part glancing at Raph who put on a look of 'What-did-I-do!'

The trio silently and quickly snuck out of the bushes and plastered themselves against the smooth, cool grey stone face of the back of the altar. Swiftly they climbed up the back using loose stones as foot and hand holds. If they grew tired they would stop and rest in the channel where water once overflowed the banks.

Eventually, the trio reached the top. They stared in awe at the emerald, captivated by its beauty.

"Wow, this thing's even more beautiful up close." Riff whispered in awe.

"Yeah," agreed Raph, equally in awe. "Kinda makes it worthwhile to take it."

Shatami was silent. She had to admit, it was beautiful but her mind was more focused on their job at hand, and getting back to a certain black and red hedgehog.

"Come on, guys, the echidna could wake up any moment, let's get a move on!" She exclaimed, making sure to keep her voice down to a whisper.

The rat and bafox nodded their agreement and set to work.

Riff went to one side of the emerald and Raph went to the side opposite.

"One…two…three!" mouthed Riff and on 'three' the duo lifted the copious emerald up, both equally surprised at it lightness.

Slowly they started to move past Knuckles, careful of their footing. Shatami supervised from the other side of the Emerald Stand, glancing towards Knuckles every few seconds to make sure he wasn't stirring.

All was going well until Raph's foot accidentally knocked up against Knuckles' foot.

The two thieves that held the emerald froze in place staring at the echidna to see what he would do. Neither of them seemed to breathe.

Knuckles stirred ever so slightly, and then his eyes slowly started to open.

As his eyes began to adjust from sleep he noticed the two figures looming over him with something they were supporting.

"Hmmm……WHAT! Who are you! Get your hands off my emerald!" He shouted jumping up suddenly and getting into a fighting stance.

Shatami cursed under her breath and jumped in front of the hot headed echidna.

"Your sadly mistaken, echidna, for this emerald is now ours." She said coolly which only succeeded in making Knuckles' even angrier.

"Put…my…emerald…down!" He whispered almost deadly and angrily through clenched teeth.

"Make us!" Riff challenged handing the emerald over to Raph who moved down the altar steps ever so slightly.

Knuckles noticed this though and got even angrier if it was possible.

"Don't even think about it, thief!" He yelled and moved to punch the bafox but was stopped by a solid kick to his stomach from Riff.

He recoiled onto the ground, temporarily paralyzed from the wind being knocked out of him.

"Run! While he's still down!" Shatami shouted running past them and down a few altar steps. Riff got the message and grabbed the emerald and ran after Shatami. Raph followed soon after but by that time Knuckles had recovered.

"Oh no you don't! You're not getting away that easily!" He hollered and pursued the three ninja thieves.

All the while the trio ran for their lives, Riff clutching the bulky emerald as tightly as possible so he didn't drop it.

They were almost all the way back to the plane they had used when Raph tripped and fell over, Knuckles growing closer and closer to them.

"Raph!" Shatami called trying to go back to help him but Riff caught her arm with his free hand and pulled her forward.

"There's nothing we can do, it's not going to help if all of us are caught. We'll come back for him." Riff assured.

Shatami looked back at their friend who was by now being held up by his collar by a very pissed echidna. She knew what Riff said was true and didn't protest as they continued their run back to the plane.

Eventually they made it back to the plan Eggman had allowed them to borrow. They placed the giant emerald in the seat that would have been where Raph sat and quickly fled the scene after strapping themselves in. The sounds of a raging echidna and the echoing screams of their friend could be heard emitting from the island that was becoming a dot in the distance as they flew away, but there was nothing neither of them could do.

* * *

Few! Damn, this is over-do. Well, finally finished this chapter, longest one I've ever written for this whole story. I expect lots of reviews so HIT THE REVIEW BUTTON LOCATED ON THE BOTTOM LEFT OF THE SCREEN! 

Thank you! Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. I'll try to start on the next one as soon as I can, I promise! Peace!

Kalana Fox


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